SUN RA: The Creator of the Universe (Double CD) The Lost Reel Collection. Volume One

Transparency has acquired eleven reel-to-reel tapes that were completely unknown before. None of this material is on any tape trader list or in any discography. All are of pretty high quality. These two are from mid-1971: a concert at awarehouse in San Francisco, the centrepiece of whichis a very dramatic and intense 20-minute declamation with massed arkestra interruptions, urging the black race to rise up into freedom and identity; followed by a great version of 'The Satellites are spinning' and 'Enlightment'. CD 2 is a class given by Ra during his teaching residency at UC Berkeley and is mesmerising. Ra's thinking is not simple. A fascinating release, and like nothing else in the Ra canon. Indispensable.